Pulisic embraces weight of US expectations as World Cup 2026 opener against Paraguay arrives

Christian Pulisic will lead the United States into their World Cup 2026 opener against Paraguay on Friday night, carrying a weight of expectation that coach Mauricio Pochettino and teammates alike acknowledge is unlike anything in American soccer history.

The 27-year-old midfielder from Hershey, Pennsylvania is the rare case of a nation’s defining star playing a home World Cup at the peak of his powers — a scenario that places him alongside Zinedine Zidane for France in 1998, Michael Ballack for Germany in 2006, and Neymar for Brazil in 2014. For the United States, a country that has long struggled to produce elite talent, Pulisic represents something more personal: proof that it can.

“I can’t even imagine the weight that’s on his shoulders,” midfielder Tyler Adams said. “From such a young age, he was the hope of American soccer.”

Pulisic, speaking at the US training base in Orange County, pushed back gently on the idea that the moment is overwhelming him. “I don’t feel a difference in weight,” he said. “Maybe less. I just feel like there’s so many good players around me. I genuinely don’t feel like I have to do anything on my own. I’m going to give it the best I can.”

That sense of collective confidence is notable given Pulisic’s individual journey to this point. Despite a decade of consistent success at European club level, his international record has been harder to define — including an 18-month goal drought in a US shirt that only ended on 31 May. The timing of that return to form, weeks before the tournament, will not have been lost on anyone inside the camp.

Pochettino, who took charge of the national team in late 2024, was careful to frame Pulisic’s role within a broader team identity. “Of course he needs to be an important player for us in the competition,” the Argentine coach said. “But I think what we’ve learned after a year and a half is that the badge of the national team and the culture with this country is more important than any name, any player or any coach.”

Pulisic himself has made clear he is not retreating from the spotlight. He said Thursday that this challenge is “what I’ve always wanted” — a line that reads less like bravado and more like the settled confidence of a player who has spent a decade preparing for exactly this moment.